NZ-UAE Trade Deal A Boost To Export And Investment
Executive Director Joshua Tan says recent engagements with exporters nationwide proves there is plenty of interest from businesses to explore opportunities in the UAE.
"The UAE is a fast-moving, high-value market with demand for exactly the kinds of quality, sustainable, and trusted products and services New Zealand is known for.
"We not only see opportunities for exporting products and services to the UAE, but also fostering investment opportunities in New Zealand. We are excited about the potential for growth in the New Zealand-Emirati economic relationship.
"ExportNZ acknowledges the hard work of our government officials and the Minister for Trade & Investment for moving quickly to conclude and pass this high-quality agreement. We look forward to notification of when the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will come into force for exporters to begin leveraging."
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RNZ News
38 minutes ago
- RNZ News
In-fighting and claims of bullying at Southland licensing trust
The Mataura Licensing Trust has its office in Gore and services an extended area within Southland. Photo: Supplied / LDR / Wikicommons The president of a southern licensing trust said he will not accept his deputy's apology following a fiery meeting this week. Gore-based Mataura Licensing Trust operates a range of alcohol-related businesses in Southland with a mandate for redistributing profits within the community. On Thursday, tempers flared at one of its meetings after president Horace McAuley accused deputy Vince Aynsley of bullying in his president's report. The situation centred on an incident at the New Zealand Licensing Trusts Association conference in Invercargill on 19 July, where McAuley alleged Aynsley asked him how he would feel when he was no longer president next term. The Otago Daily Times was at Thursday's meeting and said Aynsley could not recall the exchange but would apologise for whatever he hypothetically said. An argument then began between president McAuley and board member Jeannine Cunningham over an employment issue - but not before she alleged the president had blown up at a previous meeting and was guilty of bullying himself. Cunningham claimed she was approached by multiple people at the Invercargill conference asking: "when are you getting rid of Horace?" Despite the in-fighting, McAuley shut down any suggestion that the licensing trust was dysfunctional. "Never in your life. Never, ever, ever," McAuley told Local Democracy Reporting . Mataura Licensing Trust president Horace McAuley, left, deputy president Vince Aynsley, and board member Jeannine Cunningham. Photo: Supplied / Local Democracy Reporting The issues had not dissuaded him from wanting to stay on at the trust, and he noted he had been elected president unopposed since 2010. "We're a busy trust, and as their president, I have an awful lot to do. And so I'm not focusing on this," he said. "To be fair to both myself and the Mataura Licensing Trust, it's a distraction, and the person responsible for the distraction is the person who should answer the questions. "That's Vince Aynsley." McAuley said he "received" Aynsley's apology, which was different to "accepting" it. Aynsley did not wish to comment on the situation but said he had asked McAuley how he would feel "hypothetically" if he wasn't president next year. "I'm in no rush to talk or bring down Horace or say anything in public at this stage." The president's dig at his deputy was not the only criticism Aynsley faced at the meeting. Another member, Bryan Burgess, claimed Aynsley underhandedly took his deputy role three years ago, which Aynsley accepted. Licensing trust elections run at the same time as local body elections, with the president selected by members. The next election is set for 11 October. Mataura Licensing Trust controls a total of 12 liquor outlets, bars, restaurants and accommodation providers from Tapanui in the north to Tokonui in the south. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
38 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears
By Andrea Shalal and Andrew MacAskill , Reuters US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters / Umit Bektas US President Donald Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein , arrived in Scotland for some golf and bilateral talks that could yield a trade deal with the European Union. Trump told reporters before leaving the US that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland and meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scottish leader John Swinney. Trump said he and Starmer would discuss the US-British trade deal and perhaps even "improve" it, but gave no details. He said Washington was also working hard on a possible trade deal with the European Union, which he said was very keen to make a deal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said later she would meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday. EU diplomats say a deal could result in a broad 15 percent tariff on EU goods, mirroring a framework agreement with Japan reached this week and half of the 30 percent Trump is threatening to impose by 1 August. Trump has sought to reorder the global economy after imposing a 10 percent tariff on nearly all trading partners in April and threatening sharply higher rates for many countries to kick in a week from now. Trump says the moves will reduce the US trade deficit and bring in extra revenue, but economists warn the new trade policies could drive up inflation. The Republican president faces the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term in office. Allies and opponents alike have criticised his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison. The issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump's most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump's Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. White House officials, frustrated by the ongoing focus on the Epstein saga, are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, one person familiar with the matter said. As part of the visit, Trump will open a second 18-hole course on the Aberdeen property named in honour of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to America. As he left the White House, Trump told reporters that he looked forward to meeting both Starmer and Swinney, who had publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election. "We have a lot of things in Scotland. I have a lot of love - my mother was born in Scotland," he said. "The Scottish leader is a good man, so I look forward to meeting him," Trump said. The trip, initially billed as a private visit, gives Trump and Starmer a chance to deepen their already warm relationship, with key issues on the agenda to include ending Russia's war in Ukraine, British and US sources said. British officials have been heartened by what they see as a clear shift in Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine and Russia in recent weeks, a British source said. The deteriorating situation in Gaza is also likely to come up. Starmer on Thursday said he would hold an emergency call with France and Germany over what he called the "unspeakable and indefensible" suffering and starvation being reported there, and called on Israel to allow aid to enter the Palestinian enclave. Gaza health authorities say more than 100 people have died from starvation, most of them in recent weeks. 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About 70 percent of Scots have an unfavourable opinion of Trump, while 18 percent have a favourable opinion, an Ipsos poll in March found. Scottish police are girding for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and in Edinburgh, the country's capital. Trump will return to Britain from September 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019. - Reuters
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Brought to its knees': Why NZ can't shake the recession
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King New Zealanders were told to "survive til '25" for the economy to pick up - but now one major bank economist says it's probably going to be 2026 before any real improvement happens. Kiwibank's latest Annual Regional Note shows small improvements across the country, but weak scores overall. The national average score has lifted from three out of 10 to four. Southland and Otago top the table at five. Otago was boosted by a recovery in international tourism and improvement in employment. Northland, Taranaki and Gisborne went backwards. Taranaki had the biggest fall in employment of anywhere in the country, at 8 percent. Northland reported a double-digit drop in building consents. Retail sales remain below their average levels over the past decade in most regions, as weak household confidence weighs on consumption. Kiwibank said Wellington recorded the steepest annual decline at a -3.3 percent, while regions like Waikato, Northland and the Bay of Plenty experienced a slight improvement on last year. Wellington's score improved from a two out of 10 to a three out of 10 while Auckland lifted from a three to four. "Wellington is just more pessimistic," Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr said. "It's gone through a lot in recent years. You can see it in their activity, you can see it in the housing market. You can see it in the economy, the city has been brought to its knees and it's been struggling to shake the pessimistic vibe." He said both Auckland and Wellington were well below average. "If you look across the regions, some of them have gone backwards and others are improving but it's not good. "When you look at the South Island things are better, people are definitely more optimistic in the South Island but even then the top scoring regions get a five out of 10." He said the report helped solidify the view that rate cuts to date had not been enough to turn around the economy. "We're really crawling out of this recession rather than regaining our footing and looking to grow from here. We're still struggling across the entire country." He said Kiwibank customers last year had talked about needing to hold on until this year. "We are halfway through the year and, yes, things are better but only by a little bit." New Zealand was worse off than Australia, he said. "Their economy is much stronger than ours but in their terms it's soft… where everything washes out is the labour market and, you know, the unemployment rate tells you a lot. Our unemployment rate is over 5 percent and theirs is pretty close to 4 percent." Part of the reason was the more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Reserve Bank, he said. "We were much more aggressive in our rate hikes than in Australia. We were much more aggressive on inflation than across the Tasman. "I think both the RBA and RBNZ made mistakes as I think every central bank did through the Covid period, we overstimulated in hindsight but at the time it was the right thing to do. And then we had to deal with the inflation problem." He said the Reserve Bank had kept the official cash rate at 5.5 percent for too long as it worked to tackle inflation. "We had a really bad recession last year, which the Reserve Bank openly orchestrated, they said 'look, we need a recession to get inflation back down'. The Australians didn't orchestrate a recession, they didn't slam the economy into the floor." Kerr said recovery was still coming but he had hoped it would have started more obviously by now. "We're hoping it takes off in the second half of this year as more and more people refix on to lower rates. Then it's more of a 2026 story now."
